[352] Pericles. A famous Greek statesman of the fifth century before Christ, in whose age Athens was preëminent in naval and military affairs and in letters and art.
[353] Xenophon. A Greek historian of the fourth century before Christ.
[354] Columbus. Give an account of his life.
[355] Bayard. Chevalier de Bayard was a French gentleman of the fifteenth century. He is the French national hero, and is called "The Knight without fear and without reproach."
[356] Sidney. Probably Sir Philip Sidney, an English gentleman and scholar of the sixteenth century who is the English national hero as Bayard is the French; another brave Englishman was Algernon Sidney, a politician and patriot of the seventeenth century.
[357] Hampden. John Hampden was an English statesman and patriot who was killed in the civil war of the seventeenth century.
[358] Colossus. The Colossus of Rhodes was a gigantic statue—over a hundred feet in height—of the Rhodian sun god. It was one of the seven wonders of the world; it was destroyed by an earthquake about two hundred years before Christ.
[359] Sappho. A Greek poet of the seventh century before Christ. Her fame remains, though most of her poems have been lost.
[360] Sevigné. Marquise de Sevigné was a French author of the seventeenth century.
[361] De Staël. Madame de Staël was a French writer whose books and political opinions were condemned by Napoleon.